Soul Protector by Amanda Leigh Cowley Page A

and completely smothered myself in it. I plucked my
eyebrows, carefully applied my make-up, adding a bit more eye-liner
than normal for extra definition. I blow dried my hair and curled
it, a la Lydia, and spritzed my favourite perfume all over.
    I started to feel a bit more
confident, and turned my attention to the wardrobe. I still hadn’t
decided what I was going to wear. I didn’t want to over-do it, so I
set about finding something amazing, yet understated.
    After deliberating for an
eternity, I decided it had to be black. I settled for the one pair
of jeans that made me look slim, a black top and my grey jacket. I
took inspiration from Lydia, and added a scarf. When I stood back
to look at myself, I actually felt quite pleased with my
reflection.
    I put on my high-heeled boots,
and quickly took them off again, replacing them with a moderately
heeled pair instead – I didn’t want to ruin the evening by being in
agony. Last time I saw Dan, I couldn’t give him my full attention.
This time I intended to.
    As I thought about him, I felt
the butterflies whip up inside my stomach. I poured myself a large
glass of Pinot Grigio, sat on the sofa and waited.
    Dan was due at seven, and by
time the hour arrived I couldn’t stop fidgeting. I took some deep
breaths to try and calm down while I got things into perspective.
It wasn’t a date; he was just taking me to get registered at this
office place. A formality, that was all. But I couldn’t help
feeling excited at the thought of seeing him again. In my head I
had rehearsed how I would act when he arrived, what I would say and
how I would smile. I knew he was out of my league, but you couldn’t
blame a girl for trying.
    I checked my watch again at ten
minutes past. It didn’t surprise me he hadn’t arrived, nobody ever
turned up at the time they said they would. Ten minutes was
nothing. I went over my welcome again, perfecting the smile and the
playing-it-cool bit, and took a large sip of wine.
    At half-past seven, I couldn’t
help wondering if my watch was fast. I popped into the kitchen and
checked the time on the oven. It was the same.
    By eight o’clock, I’d emptied
my glass and knew my lines off by heart. But the buzz had left me.
It was replaced by a heavy feeling of disappointment. He wasn’t
coming. I knew it. Why hadn’t he phoned to cancel? I had him down
as the solid, reliable type. Well it just proved you never could
tell.
    I picked up my empty wine glass
and plodded through to the kitchen, dumping it next to the sink. I
let out a sigh, and leant back on the work surface, staring out the
window at the street lights. What to do, Gracie? I felt
lethargic and restless at the same time.
    I needed to feel better and as
I glanced towards the fridge I knew what would help. I reached
inside and brought out my emergency bar of chocolate. I peeled back
the foil, snapped off a row of four squares and shoved them
straight in my mouth.
    It was a bit ambitious and I
couldn’t close my lips properly. Too hard to bite, I had to just
suck until it was more pliable. Gradually, as it melted on my
tongue, the lovely chocolate flavour overwhelmed my taste buds, my
disappointment forgotten for a heavenly moment. I slurped as some
of the melted chocolate dribbled down my chin.
    A harsh rapping at the door
snapped me out of the moment. There’d been no buzz from the
intercom, so I guessed it must be one of the residents. Mrs Logan
had more than likely locked herself out again. It happened so
often, she’d given all the neighbours a spare key. I swallowed the
last of my mouthful, popping the chocolate bar back in the fridge,
and wandered over to the door.
    I pulled down the handle, set
my gaze to about four foot eleven where Mrs Logan would be, and had
to tilt my head to six foot one, to be met by Dan. He was wearing
the monitor outfit again.
    “Gracie, I’m sorry. I know I’m
late, but I couldn’t help it. I got called on another shout.”
    I was pleased he had